Austin, TX — Today State Senator Robert Nichols (R-Jacksonville) congratulated the Texas Basket Company on being given the Texas Treasure Business Award from the Texas Historical Commission (THC). The Texas Treasure Business Award program pays tribute to businesses that have provided employment opportunities and support to the state's economy for 50 years or more.

"Celebrating this type of achievement is a real milestone and an indication of the business's importance to Jacksonville and the State of Texas," said Nichols. "I am particularly impressed with the Texas Basket Company's operation as a "complete industry," in that you start with a log and end up with a basket- what a rare thing in today's world."

The Texas Basket Company was founded in 1919 in order to facilitate the harvesting, transporting, and storing of fruits and vegetables, especially tomatoes, since Jacksonville was known as the "Tomato Capital of the World." Owners Martin and Jackie Swanson have since expanded the business to produce hundreds of different types of baskets, crates, veneer, and display racks.

A special decal identifying the business as a Texas Treasure will now be publicly displayed at the Texas Basket Company. Consumers will know when they spot the familiar Texas Treasure Business icon, they are doing business with a well-established, Texas-owned-and-operated business that has long contributed to job growth, stimulated the local economy and generated state and local tax revenues.

"As a former Jacksonville manufacturer myself, I am so pleased and proud of the Texas Basket Company's 94 years of success as an independent business and look forward to many more," said Nichols. "Businesses like theirs are truly the economic backbone of our state."

To learn more about the Texas Basket Company, visit their website at http://www.texasbasket.com/. For more information on the Texas Treasure Business Award, go to www.thc.state.tx.us.

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